1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to brackets or clips used to easily receive and tenaciously retain a loop or bight portion of a cord, rope, cable or other flexible member. More particularly, the invention relates to brackets particularly adapted for mounting on the sides of trucks or similar vehicles for retaining the ropes or lines used to secure a tarpaulin over the top of the cargo-carrying portion of such vehicles.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the transport of cargo in large, open-topped trucks and similar vehicles, it is customary practice to cover the cargo with a removable tarpaulin or similar flexible covering structure. The side edges of the tarpaulin are secured in position after covering the cargo by extending ropes or similar flexible lines from certain points along the side edges of the tarpaulin to a plurality of positions of anchorage along the side walls of the truck. For purposes of anchoring or securing the ropes, it has been conventional practice to provide a cleat or similar rigid structure having projecting fingers or toes beneath which the bights or loops of the rope are passed prior to tensioning. A difficulty frequently encountered with this type of securing or anchoring means is that the rope employed for securing the tarpaulin often develops slack or looseness after an extended period of road travel with characteristic vibration, and the loops, by reason of sagging of the rope, pass free of the anchoring cleats or similar structure, and thus no anchoring function continues to be rendered by these devices.
In other types of anchoring structures or brackets employed for securing the bight portions of ropes, a latching mechanism is sometimes employed which is complicated to operate, and requires digital manipulation in order to open the bracket to receive the bight of the rope or the flexible member, followed by further digital manipulation to lock the bracket in place around or over the bight of the rope. In a few instances, the brackets used employ rigid eyes through which the rope must first be threaded in order to place the bight in position in the eye, thus necessitating a free end of the rope which can be manipulated to effect initial threading of the rope through the eye. Where such free end is not available and only the bight is accessible, such devices have no utility, since there is no way to place the bight within the rigid eye.